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Synopsis

A Delhi Court on Tuesday stayed the summons issued against BJP leader and former Union Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain by a magisterial court on a woman's complaint alleging rape and criminal intimidation.

Special Judge MK Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Court passed the order on a revision petition filed by Hussain against the order of the magisterial court that had directed him to appear before it on October 20.

The judge also issued a notice to the complainant on the petition and sought her response by November 8.

“In view of the submissions being made by counsel representing the petitioner, it is also being directed that till then, the operation of the impugned order and further proceedings in the case shall remain stayed,” the judge said.

Hussain claimed in his petition that the metropolitan magistrate took cognisance of the offences “merely on the basis of a statement under section 164 CrPC made by the prosecutrix, though there was sufficient other oral or documentary evidence on record to show that no such incident of intoxication or rape of the prosecutrix actually took place”.

Notably, on October 10, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vaibhav Mehta while taking cognizance of the alleged offence, had directed the former Union Minister to appear before it on October 20, 2023.

The ACMM had said, “This court after going through the cancellation report, protest petition filed by the complainant, the reply to the protest petition filed by the IO and other material on record is of the view that the complainant has given consistent statements to the police, to the court in her application and before the Ld. Magistrate in her statement u/s 164 CrPC”. 

The Delhi Police had filed a report before the court seeking cancellation of the FIR.

The ACMM had noted, “Here is a woman before the Court who is stating before the police and before the court, repeatedly, that she has been raped by being intoxicated; unless IO brings such material on record to establish that there is no possibility that she could have been raped, this court has no reason to throw out her case at the outset”.

The complainant alleged that on April 12, 2018 during the BJP dharna in Delhi, accused Syed Shahnawaz Hussain called the complainant into Roshan Tent House to sort out the problems between the complainant and the brother of the accused i.e. Syed Shahbaz Hussain and raped her and also threatened the complainant with dire consequences stating that he had prepared a video in this respect.

The complainant's case was that the accused threatened to kill her and her family members and that was why she could not take any legal action against him initially and was in depression for a long time and on April 22, 2018, she filed a complaint in Mehrauli police station. 

The ACMM had said that the statement of the Prosecutrix u/s 164 CrPC is the most clinching piece of evidence, especially in cases of rape as there are seldom any eye-witnesses to such heinous offences. “Whether the statement of the Complainant is reliable or not can be found out only after the same is put to scrutiny before the Court of Trial”, he had said.

The court had taken cognizance of the offences under Sections 376 (rape), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, with intent to commit offence), 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.

Case Title: Syed Shahnawaz Hussain v. State